Press Release
Source: G. Buttery PR
South African fingerstyle guitar giant, Guy Buttery, announces the launch of his 6th album and what will be his first official live recording.
For over a decade, the South African Music Award winning musician has sealed the deal with fans around the globe with his idiosyncratic and powerful live shows. This year the artist described as a “one man guitar orchestra” presents a live performance on CD and begins to promote the album.
Live in KwaZulu is a gathering of masterworks set before a live audience and strongly reaffirms Guy Buttery’s unique place in the world of guitar heroes today.
Recorded over two nights at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the album showcases Guy Buttery’s further explorations in instrumentation and innovative soundscapes.
Live in KwaZulu features, for the first time on CD, his vivid interpretation of Joanna Newsom’s “The Book of Right On” and his much loved musical saw classic “Smithfield” (also known as “Martian Folk Song”). His life-long musical partner, Nibs van der Spuy performs on 2 of the 11 tracks.
For many years, the public have asked Guy Buttery to make a live album and in 2013 he decided to make the project come alive. “In many ways, I’ve been afraid. In a live environment there’s no way to get it ‘just right’.” says Guy. “When you make music in front of an audience, there’s an energy, certain dynamics, a feel, a collective experience. This isn’t the studio. It’s real.”
Guy Buttery – photo credit: Deborah Roussouw
Through the depth of his compositions and the tangible soul of the music Live in KwaZulu captures an artist live at work. This year one of South African’s most talented and loved musicians will be promoting his new album through-out South Africa, UK, USA and Canada. The album has received rave reviews around the globe including a 3 page feature in Rolling Stone Magazine. Guy has also toured, recorded or supported artists such as Dave Matthews, Vusi Mahlasela, Kelly Joe Phelps, Xavier Rudd and 70’s folk icon Shawn Phillips.
Live in KwaZulu is available on a limited edition CD digipack at Bandcamp and on iTunes Worldwide and will available at all upcoming concerts.
FOR MORE INFO PLEASE CONTACT: buttery@iafrica.com / +2782 361 0615 / www.guybuttery.co.za
Reviews for Live in KwaZulu
“Buttery is a god on the fretboard. A guitar master who proves once again that he doesn’t push boundaries; he simply vaults over them and goes for a stroll in the musical unknown.”
– CUE
“… an acoustic tour de force and testament to Buttery’s stature as a burgeoning fret colossus! Loops, killer chops and a highly evolved sense of melody, texture and adventure are all present, as well as the spirit of Michael Hedges and the obvious influence of Buttery’s South African roots. I recently took part in a “best live album of all time debate” and I now have a new top five entry. This 29 year old artist has the potential to ascend to a level of creativity, artistry and accessibility that few musicians achieve”
– MINOR 7th, USA
“… the finest guitarist in South Africa today.”
– RICHARD HASLOP, AV Magazine
If the Inuit have a dozen lexemes describing the various phenomena of snow, Buttery has a dozen ways of unveiling what to other musicians would be the same note. A release as rich as Live in KwaZulu cannot really be said to have highlights – the light abounds, as it were – but most guitarists will stutter for a week after experiencing his astounding Half A Decade, which is so talently textured as to hint at a new vocabulary of guitar playing. His fret board seems to undergo actual transmogrification, in one delicious sequence morphing into a grove of subtle, oriental cymbals. A sensory feast.”
– MUSE MAGAZINE
“A one man guitar orchestra!”
– MWE3.COM
“…elevated to a six-string stratosphere that’s the stuff of legend!”
– JASON CURTIS, The Cape Times
“Buttery already has an enviable catalogue of three fine and award-winning solo studio albums, an excellent collection of duets with running partner Nibs van der Spuy, and a potentially collectible vinyl album of bits and pieces. But he is probably still best experienced live, where the prodigious technique at the service of his playing – rather than the other way round – and an approach that constantly explores and investigates, guarantees an evening of sonic risk.”
– ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE
